


Pet Shop Boys

by SexuallyMonsterous (Alli_Bialystock)



Series: Tumblr Prompts [1]
Category: Silicon Valley (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, pet store au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 01:31:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4121341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alli_Bialystock/pseuds/SexuallyMonsterous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Richard notices one customer always comes into his pet shop when he's down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pet Shop Boys

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GlitterDwarf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitterDwarf/gifts).



> A/N: Holy shit I am so sorry for the title. I'm a giant loser.  
> Thank you to GlitterDwarf so much for requesting this piece! It was so much fun to work on (especially since this is exactly what I do when I'm sad).

Richard had never been too comfortable around people.

People made him nervous. A lot of things made him nervous, but interacting with humans was definitely on the top of that list. That was probably why he had taken a job at a pet store – animals didn’t know how stupid he looked when he stuttered his way through an explanation or watch him with contempt when he fumbled his way through a conversation. He felt a kind of kinship with them. None of them knew how to behave like an average human.

Working as a cashier, however, had provided an unexpected challenge. When he had been hired, he had stupidly assumed that he would spend very little time talking, but that was proving to be completely untrue. Far less of his day was taken up by playing with puppies, kittens, and lizards than it was by dealing with old women who were extremely picky about what food would be most pleasing to their cats’ “palettes.” It took a great deal of deep breathing and willpower to keep Richard from reminding them that cats literally lick their own asses and probably don’t care which particular body of water their tuna had been caught in.

There was one customer, though, that Richard had grown to like – or, at the very least, gotten used to seeing around. 

He wasn’t necessarily a customer in the traditional sense. He never really bought anything. More specifically, he never bought anything to take home – he did sometimes buy a few toys or treats, but they always went straight to the kittens in the cages on the wall. 

He usually came in at least once a week, his spindly frame sagging as if to apologize for being so tall and daring to take up such an absurd amount of vertical space. His pale, thin face was always drawn and his bright blue eyes were always surrounded by dark circles, but something about him was almost cute. He reminded Richard of a skeletal, shivery greyhound puppy they had taken in a while ago that tailed all of the workers around the store. They both had the same exceptionally wide, pleading eyes that seemed absolutely desperate to please. 

At first, the man (always looking exhausted – Richard wondered what his career was that he always looked so miserable) would quietly and polite ask, “Excuse me, is it okay if I play with the kittens?” After a few weeks of constant reminders from Richard that he didn’t have to ask (at this point, all of Richard’s coworkers knew him), he began giving Richard a small wave on his way past the checkout.

He always had the same, measured ritual. Slowly and quietly, he would open one of the cages and place his fingertips, palm up, at the opening. “It’s okay,” he would coo gently at the tentative cats. “It’s okay.” Without fail, each cat would give his fingers a sniff and immediately begin rubbing themselves against his hand. Even the most antisocial among them (including a Russian blue who had nearly scalped Richard when he tried to clip his nails) purred and nuzzled whenever the man held them, occasionally attempting to climb him like a cat tree. The man would grin and murmur to them. More than once, Richard heard him giving them nicknames. “You’re quite the little princess, aren’t you?” he said to a fluffy white female who usually hid in the back of her cage and hissed. “You’re quite the regal one.”

Eventually, the man started coming in more and more often, until he was staying there for hours every night. Sometimes he would just sit by the cage, holding a cat in his arms and digging his nose into its fur. As much as Richard hated to admit it, he was worried about the guy. He grew thinner and more haggard with every passing day.

One Friday night, Richard found himself closing the store alone. He had almost forgotten the man huddled beside the cat cages. He groaned when he realized that it would be up to him to tell the poor guy to leave.

“Uh, excuse me?”

The man looked up. His eyes, much to Richard’s discomfort, were red and wet. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” he said, standing while trying to keep from jostling the sleep kitchen in his arms. “I must have lost track of time. I’ll get out of your way.” He opened the cage and, with an almost indistinguishable sniffle, gave the kitten a tiny kiss on the forehead before laying her tenderly on her bed. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Richard said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m not in a rush.”

“Still, I don’t want to keep you.” The man seemed as deflated as ever as he sloped towards the door. “Thank you for your patience.”

“Wait.” Richard winced at the sound of his own voice. _What are you doing, you fucking idiot?_ “You, uh, don’t have to leave just yet. You could, you know, help me take care of a few things, if you wanted.”

“Really?”

“Sure.” Richard stuck out his hand. “I’m Richard, by the way. You probably knew that though, didn’t you? Because of the nametag? I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine.” The man took Richard’s hand in his and Richard had to repress a tiny shiver. “I’m Jared. It’s very nice to meet you.” 

“You too.” Richard began making his rounds, first checking all of the reptile cages. Jared followed him dutifully with a small bowl of crickets. “So what do you do, Jared?”

“I’m in human resources.” The exhaustion crept back into his voice. “I work for Hooli.”

“Wow. That’s – That’s awesome. I wish I could do that.”

Jared smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Yes. I’m very lucky.” 

“Is it stressful?” Richard asked. When Jared frowned, he added, “I dunno, you just always seem kinda, uh, tense.”

Jared shrugged. “I suppose it can be a bit stressful, yes. But I’m sort of just a naturally tense person. It’s really not that bad.” He looked at the cages on the wall again. “Besides, coming in here relaxes me. I like spending time with animals.” 

“They like it too. I mean, they like it when you come in here. They don’t get a lot of attention.”

Jared ducked his head to hide a shy smile. 

The two continued their comfortable rapport as they made their way to all of the various cages before finally coming to stop at the cats yet again. Jared seemed to delight in even the minutiae of feeding and brushing the kittens. 

“Do you have a cat?” Richard asked while Jared softly brushed a long-haired tabby. “You’re really good with them.”

Jared shook his head. “I had a cat growing up. Well, for a little while. One of my foster mothers had a cat. I really loved her. That was the saddest part of moving out of that home.”

Richard frowned. “Shit. I’m really sorry.” 

“No, no, it’s fine. It wasn’t all that bad.”

“So why don’t you get another one?” Richard asked, fighting to keep a struggling calico in place long enough for him to brush her. 

“I don’t know.” Jared shrugged. “Silly reasons, I guess.”

“Like what?” 

Jared rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I guess I worry that I wouldn’t be good at it. Like maybe they would rather go home with someone else. I suppose I just think they’d prefer being someone else’s pet.” 

Richard barely noticed when the calico slashed her claws at him. “That’s ridiculous. I mean, not ridiculous,” he added hastily at the crestfallen expression on Jared’s face. “It’s just that the cats all love you. You’re really good with them.”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Thank you, Richard.” A bit of life finally made its way into Jared’s features. “I truly appreciate that.” 

After that night, Jared continued to help Richard close the shop. Richard would always offer to give him a few bucks in exchange, but Jared always refused. To him, it seemed, the reward of being around the animals was enough.

As for Richard, the reward of being around Jared was pretty great, too.

In a couple of weeks, Jared had gone from adorably gawky to surprisingly charming. Richard’s heart would skip a beat whenever those big blue eyes would crinkle with laughter or the tips of his cute, wide ears would go pink with embarrassment. Richard found himself going out of his way to do anything to elicit a smile from Jared, including choreographing little “cat dances” that would have been absolutely demoralizing if anyone else had seen. Jared seemed to love even the smallest scraps of attention, and he heaped praise back onto Richard tenfold.

One Saturday, Richard couldn’t take it anymore. He knew he had to do something about this. He couldn’t deal with the way his knees weakened when Jared laughed or how his heart pounded when they stood close together (especially when he caught a whiff of Jared’s fresh-paper-and-peppermint smell) without somehow leaving the shop with him. He needed a plan.

That night, Jared began helping Richard close as usual. After they had finished filling up all of the cats’ food bowls, Richard cleared his throat. “Hey, uh, Jared? I have kind of a surprise for you.”

“Oh?” Jared folded his hands, trying not to let his excitement show too clearly. 

“Yeah. You see, there’s this cat that I think you would really, really like.” As he spoke, Richard reached into one of the cages and pulled out a painfully tiny, painfully thin white kitten with enormous blue eyes. “He’s kind of shy, and he’s really clumsy and he’s sort of weird, but he’s pretty affectionate. And he seems to like you.”

“Does he?” Jared took the kitten with shaking hands. Almost immediately, he began to purr, curling up into the crook of Jared’s arm.

“Yeah, see? He’s crazy about you.” Richard cleared his throat. “I think he’d really like to spend more time with you. I think he’d really like you to take him home.” 

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, yeah, definitely. I already did all the paperwork and paid and everything, so all you need to do is bring him home.”

Jared blinked, trying to clear the mist from his eyes. “Thank you, Richard. This is… such an incredibly thoughtful gift. I can’t tell you how much this means.” He scratched at the top of the kitten’s head. “What’s his name?” 

“Richard. His name’s Richard.”

Jared stopped, staring wide-eyed at Richard who, for a second, was completely certain he blew it. _Great fucking job, Richard. You made it weird._

Then Jared grinned. “In that case,” he said, “I’d really like to spend some more time with Richard, too.” 

A spike of hope shot through Richard’s heart. “Yeah?”

“Absolutely.”

“So… you’ll take Richard home?” Richard tried to keep his breaths from shaking. He and Jared were standing so close.

Jared leaned down, and Richard saw with perfect clarity the stunning blue of his eyes and something new behind them. If he didn’t know any better, he would say it was a spark of mischief. “I’d love to take Richard home,” Jared whispered before pressing a kiss to Richard’s lips. “How could I say no to a face like that?”


End file.
